DATE: Wednesday, September 17, 1997         TAG: 9709170500

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: ROANOKE ISLAND                    LENGTH:   38 lines

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR QUITS ``LOST COLONY'' AFTER 12-YEAR STINT FRED CHAPPELL, WHO BEGAN HIS THEATRICAL CAREER AS AN ACTOR, TEACHES IN FLORIDA.

Fred Chappell has resigned after 12 years as the artistic director of ``The Lost Colony'' outdoor drama.

In a letter to the chairman of the Roanoke Island Historical Association, Chappell said that `` `The Lost Colony' must be allowed unique visions and bigger and brighter dreams.

``With these thoughts in mind, and with the very best interests of the Colony in my heart, I feel that it is time to relinquish my leadership responsibilities.''

Chappell, who teaches acting and directing at the School of Theater at Florida State University, worked with ``The Lost Colony'' during its May-to-August runs.

Chappell began his theatrical career as an actor after receiving his bachelor's degree from Rollins College in Florida. He worked with several regional theaters, including the Barter in Abingdon, Va.

In 1969, he made it to Broadway, appearing in ``Red, White and Maddox,'' a tale of the former ax-handle-wielding governor of his home state, Georgia.

Before moving to Florida in 1986, he spent nine seasons as artistic director of the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. Under his supervision, it grew to play to the second-largest regional theater audience in the country.

In 1987, Chappell staged ``A North Carolina Salute to the Voyages of Discovery,'' a gala benefit for the Roanoke Island Center for the Arts held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

``I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to make my own offerings, and I am enormously proud of all that I, and those with whom I have worked, have achieved,'' Chappell said in his letter.

The historical association said it hopes to name a new artistic director in the next few months.

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